The invention relates generally to wind energy systems, and, more particularly, to a system and method for constructing a wind energy tower system.
Towers for wind energy systems exist in several forms. Generally, a wind tower includes a tower structure with a wind turbine affixed at the top of the tower structure. Thus, as the wind tower height increases, the wind turbine is placed at higher altitudes. Generally, wind velocity and consistency increase with altitude. As a result, a wind turbine can often produce more electrical energy, and more consistently, and thus generate more income, when placed at a higher altitude. However, the cost of these wind towers increases as the wind tower height increases. Moreover, for some tower types, the tower, transportation, and construction costs increase with tower height at a faster rate than the additional income generating potential. Therefore, at some tower height, the increasing cost of the tower is such that the net revenue from the generated electrical energy begins to decrease with increasing tower height. Additionally, for some tower types, there may be construction equipment limitations, such as crane height. That is, the height of the tower may be limited by the height of the crane used to construct the tower. Unfortunately, these constraints limit the practical altitude of wind turbines.